Bolton's former world light-welterweight champion has been told the pound-for-pound No 1 snubbed him because he does not have a big win at welterweight

Amir Khan is "disappointed" with Floyd Mayweather's decision to overlook him for a fight in May in favour of Marcos Maidana - and will now turn his attentions to possible bouts with Lamont Peterson and Adrien Broner.

It means Khan, 27, will have been out of the ring over a year by the time he returns after pulling out of talks to face American Devon Alexander for the IBF world welterweight title in December in order to stay available for Mayweather.

“Despite having signed my part of the agreement to fight Floyd in early December, I’ve been preparing myself for some time that the match up with him wasn’t going to happen," the Briton said.

"Therefore, this announcement did not come as a surprise.

“I am, however, very disappointed with Floyd and his team for not providing any explanation as to why he delayed the announcement for so long and ultimately avoided the fight with me.

“Clarification, if he was not fighting me, would have allowed me to look over my options and pursue another path, rather than the ultimate delay to my career this has caused.

“It has been a very frustrating period."

Khan out-pointed Maidana in 2010 and then beat the Argentine in an official poll organised by Mayweather to decide who he should fight on Saturday 3rd May, getting 57 per cent of the vote.

“Floyd was keen to engage with the fans and so decided to let them choose who he should fight in his next bout," Khan continued.

"I clearly won his official poll, by a significant margin, but for unknown reasons he decided to ignore the fans vote and failed to keep his word. Disappointing many fight fans who took the time to vote."

Khan's American promoter Golden Boy is now considering a rematch with Peterson, who controversially out-pointed Khan in 2011 and subsequently tested positive for a banned substance, or Broner.

“I genuinely wish Marcos and Floyd all the best for their fight – two great fighters. As a team we have now moved on and are looking at different options," added the 2004 Olympic silver medallist.

“I’ve been training very hard since my last fight. I’m a fighter who wants to face the very best out there and have never ducked any opponent.

“I’m focused and ready for my next outing - we currently have a few options on the table at the moment and my team are working alongside Golden Boy Promotions to announce my next fight within the next 10 days.

“I can’t wait to get back in the ring and am determined to put on a great show for my loyal fans who have waited a long time to see me back in action – and I’m very excited about what’s yet to come this year."

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said: "I'm going to be working with the respective teams, including the team of Adrien Broner, to put together the most exciting fights.

"Now we know the centre piece of the puzzle, which is Mayweather versus Maidana, we can now go and start filling out the remaining dates, whether it's April 19, April 26 or May 3.

"If it's Peterson, it would have to be at light-welterweight. Broner will be moving to light-welterweight as well.

"There are a lot of names at 140 and 147 pounds - there is Lucas Matthysse, Keith Thurman, Paulie Malignaggi, Luis Collazo and Robert Guerrero.

"It is now a matter of sitting down with the respective teams and getting some of these fights done.

"I actually talked to Floyd about it and I think what it came down to is that Maidana had such a strong performance, a statement performance against Broner, who a lot of people felt was going to be the next Floyd Mayweather.

"I think fans demanded Maidana and Maidana's name began to come up more and more. It is still a fight I would like to see but Floyd sort of felt that Maidana had a credible win at welterweight and he would want Amir to have a credible win at welterweight before doing a potential fight to give the biggest possible platform, to give it the biggest possible pay-per-view success.

"For that he felt Amir would need a credible win at welterweight."

Maidana, 30, will challenge Mayweather, 37, for his WBA and WBC world welterweight titles in Las Vegas and is the third fight of a six-fight deal for the American with US TV network Showtime.

Mayweather intends to retire at the end of the £120million TV deal, leaving Khan clinging to the hope he can still land a money-spinning fight with the five-weight world champion before he quits.